View full sizeIn this January 2009 photo, First Stop case manager Renee Priest gathers information from a group of homeless people camped under the elevated portion of I-565 west of downtown Huntsville. (File photo)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Responding to a health complaint, state officials are considering closing down a 20-year-old homeless camp under the elevated portion of Interstate 565 west of downtown Huntsville.

Mayor Tommy Battle said someone living near the camp recently reported to the Huntsville-Madison County Health Department that homeless people are urinating and defecating under the interstate.

Health officials notified the Alabama Department of Transportation, which maintains the area underneath I-565.

"DOT started making inquiries into what would have to be done to move the homeless from under the bridges," Battle said Thursday night. "We've asked them to hold off at this point while we talk to the health department.

"You don't want a health hazard out there," he said, "but this is a certain subset of the community that doesn't fit into anybody's plans.

"We're looking at how we can make sure we do the right thing."

Rusty Loiselle, who runs a group called Help Our Homeless Veterans & Homeless Citizens, brought up the potential closing of the "tent city" at Thursday's Huntsville City Council meeting.

Loiselle urged the council to "reason with the DOT" to allow the camp to remain open. About 40 homeless men and women - many of them war veterans - live there, he said. The camp is a few steps from a First Stop day center, which provides free meals, showers and other services for Huntsville's homeless.

"Every time someone uproots these unfortunate people, they have to walk away from the few possessions they have," said Loiselle.

He asked the council to consider giving First Stop an additional $195 a month to pay for a Porta-Potty that could be placed at the camp. First Stop is scheduled to receive $83,830 from the city in the new budget year that starts Tuesday.

Another speaker at last night's meeting, Chris Dayton, pointed out that even prisoners get a bathroom and bed.

"We treat the people who've wronged us better than the people who've served us," said Dayton.

DOT Division Engineer Johnny Harris was not immediately available for comment Friday.